


The Magic Touch

by SpacePenguin11



Category: The Brittas Empire
Genre: F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Massage, Unresolved Sexual Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-25
Updated: 2018-11-25
Packaged: 2019-08-29 08:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,374
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16740826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpacePenguin11/pseuds/SpacePenguin11
Summary: It seems that Gordon Brittas’ hands are good for more than just ‘gesturing.’





	The Magic Touch

**Author's Note:**

> I know Laura doesn’t suffer with arthritis in canon but I just couldn’t resist this fic.  
> I was seriously hankering for some hurt/comfort.
> 
> I have never suffered with the condition myself, so apologies in advance if anything is medically innaccurate.
> 
> I’m also aware that the leisure centre’s ‘rather lovely’ manager is never shown to possess ‘massage skills’ so meh... I guess this is just headcanon city :p  
> Set series 2, between ‘Mum’s and Dad’s’ and ‘Safety First’
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

Carole rushed to the double doors just as Laura was coming through them, carrying a crate of supplies for the swimming pool.

“Laura, let me help you with those!”

“No Carole you’re pregnant! You’re not supposed to be carrying anything!”

“But you look like you’re struggling with it!”

“I’m doing fine, its just...ah” she howled in pain and dropped the box, causing all the contents to come spewing out across the floor.

‘Argh dam it!” she cried angrily, flexing her hands.

“Oh Laura, have you hurt yourself?” said Carole, gently taking hold of Laura’s hands to inspect them.

“You poor thing, look at how swollen your fingers are!?”’ Carole said in her soft mothering tone,  
“It’s the arthritis again isn’t it?”

Laura nodded.

“But I thought you’d got those tablets from the doctor?”

“They’re not working today Carole, nothing seems to be working.

“You know Laura, you really need to tell Mr Brittas,” said Carole, gently rubbing her thumbs over the backs of Laura’s hands.

“Carole,” said Laura with a slight smirk on her face, “You’re not really in a position to lecture me about telling the manager something are you?” She patted Caroles bump.

“Well no,” Carole looked down at her stomach, “But unlike me, you don’t run the risk of losing your job.”

“No, but I do run the risk of being sent home, and thats exactly what he’ll do if he thinks I’m not fit to be here.  
Then he’ll make me take two or three days off after that just to make sure! You know what he’s like!

The car needs a new battery, my boilers just packed up...I can’t get by on sick pay right now!”

“But how are you going to cope if you can’t do anything with your hands?” asked Carole softly.

“I’ll just have to grin and bear it,” she said, bending over to pick the crate up.

Just then Colin entered the reception area.

“Ah Colin,” said Carole, “Can you carry this stuff into the swimming pool for Laura please?”

“Certainly!” he said, “Is it the arthritis again!?” 

The latter part of the sentence had been delivered in Colin’s customary foghorn tone.

“Not so loud Colin!” whispered Carole.

“Ah yes sorry, I forgot Mr Brittas isn’t supposed to know about it.  
We do seem to be keeping a lot of things from him of late though,” he said eyeing up Carole,  
“And I can’t say that I’m overly comfortable with it.”

“Just take the crate Colin,” said Carole irritably.

“Right, I’ve got to head upstairs Carole,” Laura said when Colin had left,  
“Managers meeting with coffee and doughnuts,” she rolled her eyes.

“Ooh if theres any doughnuts left over?” said Carole hopefully.

“I’ll think of you Carole.”

On the way up to Brittas’ office she stopped off at the toilets to run her hands under the hot tap, something that sometimes helped to relieve the pain temporarily.

She opened the door to find her manager sat at the table by the settee [where they often had their coffee and doughnut meetings.]

“Morning Mr Brittas.”

“Good morning Laura, would you mind pouring the coffee out?”

“Not at all,” she said, making her way over to the machine.

“Did you see Colin on the way up here?”

“No, he’s um, he’s just doing an errand for me.”

“An errand?” he turned round to face her, one eyebrow raised.

“Some stuff for the swimming pool, it was a bit too heavy for me.”

“I see,” he said, turning back round to scrutinise the paperwork on the table.

“Hello Mr Brittas!” Colin burst through the door with his usual grin plastered on his face.

“I hope I’m not late! I had to carry a box for Laura because...”

He was stopped short by Laura’s death glare, and began to panic as he quickly tried to think of something to say.

“Because...because heavy lifting is no job for a lady!”

“I quite agree Colin, I’m glad you were there to rid Laura of her burden,” he said, smiling his patronising smile.  
“Could you fetch the plate of doughnuts off my desk please?”

“Of course Mr Brittas!”

Laura managed to pour the three coffees out without a hitch, although she did have to take it very slowly. She put them on the tray and carried them over to the table. When she reached the table however, her left hand suddenly throbbed really badly and she dropped the tray. In doing this she managed to spill coffee all over the doughnuts, the paperwork that was sitting on the table, and her manager’s leg.

“My word Laura!” said Colin.

She was so frustrated with herself.  
“Oh god, I’m sorry Mr Brittas.”

“It’s fine Laura,” he said attempting to blot some of the coffee on his trouser leg with a tissue, “It was only an accident, and I’ve got a spare pair in the cupboard.

“But what about your paperwork!? I’ve ruined it!”

“I had memorised what I was going to say anyway,” he said, picking up bits of coffee soaked paper and dropping them into the waste paper basket by his feet.

She was more than relieved that the coffee had been sitting in the jug for a while, and so hadn’t been scaldingly hot.

She had to admire him for keeping his cool about the situation, but then compared with what he normally had to deal with on any given day at the centre, this was a highly uneventful incident indeed.

“Colin, could you go and get some paper towels please?”

“I’ll go,” said Laura, knowing that she needed a quick bathroom break to run hot water over her hands again, as they were throbbing like mad after dropping the tray.

She came back with mountains of paper towels, and her and Colin cleaned up all the spilled coffee, while their manager went and changed his trousers.

Thankfully only two of the doughnuts had been ruined, leaving the remaining four perfectly edible.

“Colin, can you do the coffee this time please?”

“Of course Laura,” he smiled at her.

Gordon Brittas returned to the office wearing a fresh pair of trousers, and the meeting finally got going. Laura tried hard to concentrate on what was going on, but her pain just seemed to be getting worse by the minute. Luckily the topic of discussion was whether or not to restrict pool opening times in the winter as Brittas believed they were making a big loss. Colin was in charge of the swimming pool, and so thankfully Laura could get by with the odd Yes or Ok every now and then.  
Twice she went to pick up her coffee cup, then saw how close it was to her managers lap, and decided against it. It was highly unlikely that he would have two spare pairs of trousers. She did manage a doughnut though.

“You not drinking your coffee Laura?” her employer asked her.

“No, I’m not feeling like it today.” 

Mercifully he didn’t push the point, choosing instead to launch into a tirade about finances, which she could see had caused Colin’s eyes to glaze over, and would have had the same effect on her, had she been listening. 

And boy was he on one today, financially speaking. She knew he loved nothing more than to talk numbers, and Colin was making the situation ten times worse by asking infuriatingly stupid questions which was making the conversation take far longer than she felt it needed to.

Finally she could take the pain no more.

She stood up from the table, interrupting what she felt to be a pointless discussion about whether or not to ban swimming floats.

“Mr Brittas I’m sorry but I’ll have to be excused, I promised Carole I’d help her out with something. Since Colin is deputy wet anyway, I feel this is much more relevant to him than it is to me.”

He looked displeased but, to her great relief, didnt argue the point.

“Alright Laura, can you ask Carole to come up and see me as I’ve found a weight loss program that I think might be beneficial for her.”

Laura and Colin exchanged glances.

Grabbing a doughnut off the plate, she headed down to reception and passed it to Carole on her way to the staff room.

“Oh thank you Laura! Laura! What’s the matter?” Carole asked, noticing the speed at which the other woman had zipped past her.

She went in after her, and was appalled to see her colleague sat at the table in tears, clenching and unclenching her swollen fingers.

She pulled Laura’s head against her ample bosom and gave her a big hug, sending a burst of her delicate floral perfume into the air.

“Laura this is getting silly, you need to go home.”

Just then Julie entered, followed by Linda.

“Eh up whats going on in here?” said Julie.

“Laura’s arthritis is playing up,” replied Carole.

“Well what are you still doing here? Tell him you’re going home! I would!”

“She can’t Julie, she needs the money!”

“I can probably help you out Laura!” said Linda.

Laura extricated herself from Caroles bosom, her eyes wet with tears.

“Really?”

“I did a short course in manicures back at college!”

“How’s a fancy new nail colour gonna help her arthritis?” asked Julie, pouring herself a coffee.

“Well a hand massage is part of the procedure, they do say that massage can help arthritis sometimes you know?”

Laura was sceptical, but the amount of pain she was in was making her willing to try anything.

She tentatively placed her hands out across the table, and Linda took them in hers. Her co-worker was just about to commence the massage, when their manager suddenly came storming through the door. Laura snatched her hands back from Linda’s just in time, wincing at the pain that the movement caused.

“I THOUGHT I heard talking in here! What’s going on?” he demanded,  
“Linda’s supposed to be the only person on break right now. Carole, why is the reception desk unmanned?”

“Sorry Mr Brittas, I’m on my way.”

“Actually no, wait Carole, I wanted to talk to you about dieting, so I’ll see you upstairs in my office.”

Carole pulled one of her ‘distraught’ faces and left the staff room.

“Julie can you please man reception...”

“I’m busy,” she said, walking straight past him with her coffee.

He rolled his eyes.

“Laura, can you please man reception for me until I’ve finished with Carole?”

“Yes, no problem,” she said, quickly wiping the tears from her eyes.

“Where are you after your break Linda?” 

“Supervising the gym.”

“Right, well make sure you’re not late.”

He left and Laura breathed a sigh of relief.

“Do you think he noticed anything?”

“Laura he still hasn’t noticed that Carole’s pregnant, so I think you’re ok. Come on, I’ll come out to reception with you and work on your hands.”

Laura nodded, wiping the last few stray tears off her face.

To begin with Linda’s massage felt like it was working as the pain did seem to recede a bit, but once Linda started work on her fingers it began to creep back up again.

She really didn’t want to criticise her colleagues kind offer, but unfortunately Linda’s touch was making the pain a whole lot worse.

“Linda, is there any way you could be a bit more gentle?”

“I’m trying my best Laura, but I do have to work the joints quite hard to ease the pain you see.”

So Laura grit her teeth and bore it, for the next five minutes at least, at which point she could take no more.

“I’m sorry Linda, you need to stop,” Laura’s eyes were filling with tears again.

“Oh dear,” said Linda, “They look a lot more swollen now. I’m so sorry Laura, I guess massage doesn’t really work for arthritis.”

“It’s alright Linda, thank you for trying.”

“I think you need to tell him Laura,” she said, before heading off to the gym room.

Laura looked at the clock, it was only eleven thirty and she wasn’t due to finish until six. She couldn’t afford to lose the pay.  
She needed to keep going somehow.

A young woman approached the reception desk, looking to play squash.

Laura reached up to get a squash racquet from the hanging basket above the desk, when her traitorous hands seized up again and she managed to knock the whole supply of them all over the desk and the floor.

“Oh my god are you alright?!” asked the woman, clearly concerned.

“Sorry, just give me a minute.”

She took a few deep breaths, attempting to get on top of the pain.

“Everything alright down here Laura?”

It was him again.

“Yes, everything’s fine Mr Brittas,” she said, turning round and forcing a smile.

“Why are there squash racquets all over the desk?”

“Well she tried to...” began the woman, but thankfully Carole had come down the stairs behind Brittas and, after seeing the squash racquets piled haphazardly over the reception desk, had guessed instantly what had happened.

“Oh thank you Laura,” she said, interrupting the customer.

“I see you’ve sorted through the racquets like I asked you to, you’re too kind!”

She picked one up and handed it to the customer.

“Thank you,” Laura mouthed at her.

Only too soon did she realise her mistake however, when she saw her manager staring directly at her, and frowning in a way that made her feel terribly uncomfortable. It was a completely unreadable expression, which somehow made it all the more daunting.

‘He must have seen that,’ she thought.

“I’ll see you later Carole,” she said, leaving reception to go up the stairs at a remarkable speed. She didn’t stop until she crashed into Gavin coming out of the weights room.

“Oh no!” she cried.  
Her hands coming into sharp contact with Gavins chest had worsened the pain drastically.

“Laura what is it!?” 

“Hands!” was all she could manage.

“Oh my god, they look really bad today!”

She nodded through the pain.

“Where are you supposed to be now?”

“Aerobics class.”

“You can’t do an aerobics class in this state! I’ll do it, you do my pool duty!”

“I can’t do pool duty Gavin,” she cried, “How am I going to dive in and help someone if they start drowning!?”

“There’s only a couple of people in there Laura, and they’re good swimmers!”

“If Brittas finds out, he’s going to go round the bloody bend! You know what he’s like about people making last minute changes to his stupid schedule!” she cried angrily.

“If he asks, just say I made you do it ok? Blame it all on me!”

“Gavin I can’t ask you to do that...”

“Not another word Laura!” he said, making his way to the aerobics room

The swimming pool was indeed more or less empty, which meant that she could spend the hour resting her hands, something they desperately needed right now.

Colin had also very kindly made her up a hot poultice of lavender and chamomile. On any normal day she would have flatly refused something created by the grossly unhygienic pool manager, but today she would take anything to help ease her pain. 

She was halfway through her pool stint when she saw Tim coming towards her.

“Mr Brittas wants to see you upstairs.”

“Did he say why?”

“Nope, but he didn’t sound very happy.”

She rolled her eyes  
“Oh well, here we bloody go,” she thought

By the time she’d reached his office, she was fully prepared for the worst case scenario.

“Mr Brittas...”

“Well Laura,” he said from behind his desk, “I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed.”

She couldn’t think of a response.

“You’ve been crying.”

“No I haven’t...” she tried to say, but he interrupted her.

“Of course you know what will have to be done?”

Didn’t she just.

 

“Sit down please Laura.” The severity of his tone made her feel like she was going to be on the receiving end of a telling off. He was never normally as dictatorial with her as he was with the other members of staff, in fact he often treated her more like an equal than a deputy. Today, however, he was making her feel very wet behind the ears indeed.

‘He must have found about me swapping with Gavin,’ she thought, sitting down.

“Right, let’s get started shall we?”

She nodded, resigned to her fate. She waited for him to get out one of his bloody box files, and set a load of paper down in front of her.  
She had never had to fill in one of his sick forms before, and could only imagine how ridiculously long winded it would be.

‘How am I even going to fill it in?’ she thought, rubbing her swollen hands under the desk where he couldn’t see. A pointless concealment she realised, as he clearly knew what was ailing her.

But he didn’t make any move towards the shelves. Instead he stood up and took his blazer off, placing it on the back of his chair.

‘What the hell is he doing?’

Sitting back down, he retrieved a bottle of massage oil from one of his desk drawers, and rubbed it liberally over his hands. 

The pungent scent of orange and cloves hit her nostrils instantly, and she had to wonder why he had that sort of thing in his desk drawer.

Now she realised exactly what he was planning on doing.

There was no way on God’s earth her ‘bull in a china shop’ boss was going anywhere near her hands. They had taken far too much abuse today as it was.

“Hands please Laura,” he said, holding his out, palms up in front of her.

“Linda already tried massage Mr Brittas, it doesn’t work.”

“Hands, Laura!”

It appeared that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer, and so she reluctantly gave them to him.

“This is the worst arthritic swelling I’ve ever seen,” he said, looking them over.

He placed her hands palm down on the table and covered them with his.  
She noticed that, along with his natural body heat, the oil itself seemed to have warming properties as well. It was quite a pleasant sensation and she found herself noticing, for the first time, how elegant his hands were.

He left them that way for a few of minutes or so, and she noticed that it had made a little bit of difference to the pain. 

However, it was the actual massage itself that she was dreading.

She screwed her eyes up in preparation for the horrific pain that was no doubt to come, and so was more than surprised to discover that it really didn’t hurt that much at all.  
He had started on the backs of her hands, rubbing his thumbs in a circular motion, and what astounded her more than anything else, was how gentle he was being. Much more gentle than Linda had been.

Once satisfied with the back of her hand, he then began work on the palm, using his thumbs on that side as well.  
Then he moved on to her fingers, rubbing from base to tip.

And it was working, she could feel her pain literally melting away under his touch. 

“Where did you learn to do this?” she asked, revelling in the sweet relief of the pain that had been plaguing her all morning.

“Sports college,” he replied, “One of the optional studies was a course in sports massage.”

“Really?” she said ,completely lost in the sensation of his touch. 

Bit bit by bit, the pain was being replaced by pleasure.  
Wonderful pleasure as a matter of fact.

“Hand massage is very similar,” he continued, “Just a lot less vigorous!”

He switched over to her other hand, and she was pleased to find that the pain began to disappear there as well. 

“You should do this professionally,” she said.

“Would that I had the time Laura, would that I had the time.”

She shivered a little as he worked his way down the index finger of her right hand.

“You alright?” he asked, stopping momentarily.

“Yes, sometimes my arthritis makes me feel cold,” she lied.

He looked at her momentarily with that strange unreadable expression she had seen on his face down in reception.

“You know Laura, I don’t know how you thought you get by without telling me this,” he said, resuming the massage.

“Who told you?”

He looked exasperated,  
“No one told me Laura, I am very in tune with how my staff members are, it’s not easy to hide something from me!”

Laura pressed her lips together in an effort not to laugh, instead trying to find something to distract her mind. The subtle flexing of his biceps, as he had now increased the pressure of the massage a little, was a very easy distraction.

 

Laura had always been a very sensuous person, and her employers ministrations were causing some ‘feelings’ down below.  
Feelings that were completely and utterly inappropriate.

And yet she couldn’t stop her mind wondering what other uses those wonderful hands could have.

‘Lucky Helen.’

“I wish my staff didn’t see me as such a monster!” she heard him say.

“Mmm,” was all she could manage.

“I like to think I’m approachable!”

“Very approachable,” she said, and couldn’t stifle the gasp that escaped her as he began to gently rub his thumb over her wrist.

Fearing that she had made the situation weird she tried to pull her hand back, but he held it firmly in place.

“I’m not finished yet Laura.”

But it was more than clear that he had finished; He had already spent a much longer time on this hand than he had the other one, and had long ago worked the pain out of both of them.

The man in front her seemed to be transfixed by the soft skin on her wrist and inner arm.  
She held her breath as his magical hands caressed her arm in a sweeping movement, and she moaned loudly as his fingers brushed over an overly sensitive patch of scar tissue, left over from a childhood accident.

He took her moaning as permission to take things one step further, and he replaced his hands with his mouth. He kissed the palm of her hand and began slowly working his way up her arm, placing soft, loving kisses along the way.

Once his mouth found the scar tissue, she knew she was done for.

She was aware that her breathing had become more than a little strained.

She also noticed, with shame, that she was beginning to get wet. 

‘You can’t have feelings like this about a married man Laura!’

She tried once again to pull her arm free, but he wasn’t having any of it.

He began to work his way back down her arm, incorporating a lot more tongue than he had done on the way up. The deliciously warm and wet sensation was setting off nerve endings that she hadn’t even known existed.

“Oh God, please Mr Brittas,” she begged. 

Although she wasn’t entirely sure whether she was begging him to stop, or carry on.

He stopped what he was doing at any rate, and looked directly at her, hazel eyes more penetrating than she thought she had ever seen them before.

And that was when she felt a featherlight touch, a questioning touch, just above her knee.

He looked deeply into her eyes for an answer.

She nodded, breathing irregular and mouth parted. She opened her legs a bit more and shifted down in her chair in an effort to grant him easier access.

She was so thankful that she’d decided to wear her skirt today. 

‘I wonder if he’s getting as turned on by this as I am.’

All traces of guilt had long since left her brain.  
His magic touch, coupled with the promise of what was about to come, had caused her reasoning faculties to shut down entirely. 

All that existed in that room was the two of them.

His hand and her warm, wet heat.

The appendage in question gradually made it’s way up her leg, and she gasped as his fingers found the damp crotch of her knickers.

She took a deep breath and...

Helen came bustling into the room.

Her employer pulled his hand back at lightning speed, and she closed her legs and attempted to straighten her skirt out.

“Gordon, I need to speak to you!”

“Helen, it is considered polite to knock!” he said angrily, crossing his legs and adjusting himself in a manner that told her he had enjoyed their little ‘session’ just as much as she had.

Laura had never seen her manager snap at his wife like that before. 

“I don’t have to knock Gordon, I’m your wife.”

“I was having a private conversation with Laura!”

“Well Laura understands, don’t you Laura?”

“Of course Helen,” she said as she slowly stood up, hoping against hope that her legs wouldn’t give out on her.

“Are you alright Laura, you’re looking a little flushed? You might be coming down with something you know?”

“I’m sure I’ll be alright, thanks Helen.”

“You’re looking a bit pink as well Gordon, I hope its not contagious! Anyway I need you to pick Jonathan up from school.”

“You came barging into the office to tell me that!? You could have told me over the phone!”

“You’re a bit snappy today Gordon, I think you’re definitely coming down with something!”

“I am not coming down with something!”

You could have cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Laura decided it would be best to leave them to it.

“Thank you for your help Mr Brittas,” she said, holding her hands up.

He smiled at her, the fondness of it seeming to be in complete contrast with the angry comments currently being directed at his wife.

“Don’t forget Laura,” he said, adopting his ‘authoritarian tone,’ “You come to me straight away if you have that problem again!”

 

She returned his fond smile with one of her own,

“Don’t worry Mr Brittas, I will.”


End file.
